Red Alert stared at the scene of mass mayhem and panic before him, wondering what had gone wrong in the five breems he had been asleep in. He had only gone to get a quick nap because Ratchet had insisted, and after five breems he had woken up with the feeling of something was desperately wrong.

And he had felt right. "What's going on here?" Red Alert demanded of the nearest mech. The mech glanced at him, before turning his interest back to the scene.

"Someone called Wyntermist a glitch, and he punched the mech in the face. The mechs friends all came to help, and it dissolved from there. While they were fighting they somehow managed to punch a hole through the waste disposal system, thus creating this."

Red Alerts sensitive nose crinkled as the pungent smell hit him. "I see. Where's Prowl, Optimus Prime, or even Ironhide?"

"They are all closeted in a meeting of some sort."

Red Alerts lips thinned. "I see. And that leaves it all too me, huh?"

His optics swept across the still fighting mechs, all rolling about in the muck and slime. Firmly he flipped on his sirens and stepped out into the rapidly growing puddle. Those of Arks crew and knew him looked up, and decided to make themselves scarce. Those who didn't know simply watched curiously.

The mechs slowly stopped throwing punches at each other as Red Alert roared, "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The fighting stopped, as Red Alert waited coldly. "Now, what is going on here?"

One mech spoke up, "He punched me-"

"You were the one who insulted me, and you brought along your friends!"

"Your friends came along soon enough-"

"Hah! They aren't my friends, they just wanted a piece of you-"

Red Alert snapped off his sirens, once again riveting all attention to him. "All of you are going to the brig this moment. After which, everyone who simply stood there and watched not alerting proper authorities will clean up this mess."

"You mean we don't have to?"

"You all will be too busy cleaning off yourselves after a cycle in the brig without washing off." Red Alert replied. "And you'll be cleaning out the brig."

Protests and muttering arose at the punishment. Red Alert pointed at Hot Rod, "You know where the cleaning materials are, now go round up the twins and tell them they have to help as well. I will be escorting these to the brig, after which I will come to check up on you all. If you are not all working on cleaning this up I will hunt you down and bring you back."

Red Alert guided the mechs away, wondering if he should handcuff them. They all slumped along, none bothering to try to run. They had taken one look at him, and decided that his alt-mode had to be faster then theirs.

They were all only just now registering how bad they actually smelled. He could see them shrinking away from each other. Some small part of his CPU nastily suggested that he could place them together in one cell. It would save cleaning.

His logic center overthrew it, reminding him that he owed them for giving him the perfect excuse of being up despite Ratchets orders. With an inward sigh he began separating them and locking them up in the separate cells. The last mech as he got to the last cell suddenly resisted. Red Alert stopped, arms crossing.

"I have a glitch."

"I know you do. That's how the whole mess started in the first place."

"But glitches get off the hook, because they are not responsible for their actions."

Red Alert stilled for a moment, staring at the mech. "What's your name?"

"Huh?"

"Name soldier!"

"It's Wyntermist." The mech said confusedly.

Beyond Red Alert could hear the other mechs talking to one another, not paying any attention to the two. "And what is your glitch?"

"It's… it's a glitch that when I see a mechs insides I freeze up."

"Ah, that must make you rather useless on battlefields." Red Alert mused out loud. Wyntermist bristled, optics sparking a deep icy blue.

"Don't call me useless."

"You are already calling yourself useless if you say simply because you have a glitch you are not responsible for your actions. Answer me this, is having a glitch an excuse or a reason?"

Red Alert stared pointedly at Wyntermist, waiting for an answer. Wyntermist stared back mulishly, refusing to answer. Red Alert chivvied him into the cell. "I believe saying that you have a glitch is an excuse."

Wyntermist seated himself gingerly on the bunk, scowling.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Inferno sipped at his cube, checking his internal chronometer. No, Red Alert was not here yet, but he should be here in another minute, or even hopefully he would walk through the door. Inferno snorted at his own hope, but his optics remained fixed on the door.

A hand descended upon his shoulder as Red Alert said dryly, "I think I have found him."

The fire truck flinched from surprise as he twisted to look up at Red Alert. "Red? Found who?"

"The next mech to train as security director." Red Alert supplied, his optics glinting a pale wintery blue in the light. "The only thing to see now is if he pasts the test."

"Test?" Inferno repeated, staring up at his friend. He knew Red Alert had been going crazy over the amount of work that landed on his plate daily, but a test sounded long, and time consuming. He didn't think Red Alert had that much time.

"Yes, you heard about the brawl a little earlier correct? Involving Wyntermist, Sunmoon, and the rest of his gang?"

"Yeah, Jazz was holding a gamble on whether Sunmoon will destroy Wyntermist before or after the punishment. Personally I betted that Wyntermist would be able to keep out of his clutches until the commander noticies."

"Good choice. Wyntermist shall be released before Sunmoon, to give him a head start. From there, the test starts." Red Alert cackled softly, a darkly amused sound.

"Red, what test? What are ya planning to do?" Inferno demanded, beginning to panic. Red Alert was acting strangely, and every single sense Inferno had was screaming danger.

Red Alert shook his head. "You'll see."

0o0o0o0o0o

Wyntermist stared at the bars. Red Alert was late. He should have been here at least five nanoclicks ago. He wondered if he should start pacing, just in line of the cameras to remind Red Alert that he was still there.

Just as he was getting up the courage to do so, Red Alert stepped into view, carrying a small stack of datapads. "You're late." He accused, glowering. Red Alert nodded as he keyed in the code to the cell. The door slid open and Wyntermist cautiously slid out, noticing that the others were still in their cells.

"What's going on?"

"You get a head start." Red Alert replied promptly. "Sunmoon will be coming after you, no matter what you do, and who's following you, so you get a head start to try to disappear to somewhere he won't find you."

Wyntermist, about to protest, revised his thoughts. "How big of a head start?"

"One breem. Starting from the moment that door opened. I suggest you get moving."

Wyntermist horrified look did nothing to help convince Red Alert to give him a little more time. Cautiously he looked around before walking towards the door. The security director had to give him credit. He would've been running by now.

The door slid shut behind Wyntermist, and Red Alert smirked as the footsteps broke out into a run. Prowl stepped into the brig, "Red Alert, you wanted me?"

"Yes Prowl, you see, I found someone I want to make my apprentice in being a security director in case I ever get killed. However, the problem is training him, and making sure that he's actually right for the job. You have to have at least a small amount of paranoia in order to be properly good, and from there it is only encouraging the paranoia."

Prowl demanded, "How were you trained?"

Red Alerts vocalizer flipped on, before he rifled through several different responses. "Ah… I don't think you want to know."

The police officer nodded, his emotions not showing. Red Alert envied Prowls trick of being able to do so. "Anyways, its time to let loose Sunmoon and his minions."

"Speaking of Sunmoon, there needs to be some way of making him behave. He has been causing a lot of trouble for all those who arrive on Earth. We all have to survive, but his attitude leaves much to be desired."

Red Alert nodded, keying open the cells. Sunmoon stalked through, glowering at the cell Wyntermist had just occupied, before looking back down at himself. His companions were already shuffling off to the washracks.

"I'm going to find that little glitch and when I do, I'll make him wish he'd never been born." Sunmoon growled softly, his optics fixated on the empty cell.

Red Alert marked onto his datapad: Time: 1300hr. End: ?

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Wyntermist recycled the air softly, his optics scanning the area. So far, so good. He was stuck on base, but that didn't mean he had to go to the wash racks for a wash-off. If he could just reach the human car-wash thing they had promised to do today-

Free! There it was! Several teenagers were scrubbing off a few of the Autobots that would actually allow the humans that close and allow the humans to touch sensitive areas.

Quickly he transformed into his car mode, a sleek, smooth Cybertron vehicle. He hadn't yet gotten the chance to rip off a human car and adapt to Earth. He wasn't even sure about the organics running around, but if it would get him washed, then he would allow them to climb all over them.

He meekly pulled up beside another car. The Autobot took one look at him and chuckled. "New?"

"Only been here for a few orns."

"Ah, be ready. When the humans see you-"

The warning was cut off by a squeal of surprise and happiness. Wyntermist translated the squeal to Is there a fight going on? What the slag is that horrible noise? before a human teenaged woman pointed at him. "Look! Look! He's still in his alien mode!"

Within moments Wyntermist was surrounded. "Ah? What?"

Desperate he almost backed up when the Autobot from before transformed, his voice rising easily above the humans. "Calm down, they don't get to see your types very much. Just give them the chance to wash you off and answer their questions."

"What?" Wyntermist demanded, "Answer questions? Isn't there someone else who can do that?"

The humans were beginning to give him a through scrubdown. One humans nose wrinkled as he asked, "What did you do to get so dirty? When you came to Earth did you drive into an open sewer?"

"I did not." Wyntermist replied, stung. "I am a very good driver."

"What alt-mode are you thinking about taking?"

"I'll pick one later. I'm a little busy right now."

"Then why come to us?" Challenged another before an arm hastily connected with their stomach. The one who spoke fell silent with a baneful glare and a strangled cough. Wyntermist ignored the question as the human hands worked their magic, scrubbing off the gunk that had been stuck on him.

As soon as the last of it was free, Wyntermist politely thanked the humans, and sped out of there. He had to find somewhere safe, safe from Sunmoon.

Behind him he heard a car pulling up to the humans, "No, I'm not here for a wash. I was just wondering if you had seen one of my friends. He still has a cybertron vehicle mode, and he's covered with sewage-"

"Oh, he went that way." The human supplied helpfully.

Wyntermist stepped on the gas. This was not a good sign. True, he had left a trail- his CPU snapped into overtime as he made a strong, right turn towards the wash racks. Sunmoon, after getting the information he had already washed himself off, wouldn't think to look for him there-

He stopped, thankful that he hadn't gotten tires yet. They would've squealed horribly alerting the mechs to the fact that he was there. Sunmoon was leaning against the wash rack door casually, smirking slightly. No chance of hiding there.

His CPU scrambled for the ideal hiding place, before he slowly backed up, and drove away carefully. He could handle this, and he knew the perfect hiding spot.

For the next three orns he hid anywhere accessible. Underneath the table in the cafeteria, behind the arguing twins in the rec room, in the ventilation shafts wherever they were big enough – it took him awhile to finally admit the one spot he should go.

The drive was short, but he found himself standing in front of the door. He stared at the door for an entire breem before at last letting it slide open for him.

The pale glow of monitors lit up the otherwise dark room, as Red Alert lay back comfortably in his chair. On the monitors Wyntermist could spot Sunmoon and his friends searching for him. He winced.

"Well, come here for help or a hiding spot?" Red Alert demanded, not bothering to turn around. Wyntermist could see himself on a monitor.

"I came… for a hiding spot." Wyntermist replied, wrapping the tattered remains of his dignity into a small box and locking it away. No time for dignity. He didn't want to end up on Ratchets fixing table anytime soon.

"If you want to hide out here you have to help."

"That's…That's fine."

Wyntermist seated himself next to Red Alert as Red Alerts optics flickered over the screens. He watched the camera flicker of the screens as well, watching mechs come and go. A message popped up onto a monitor: Camera Destroyed. Camera Destroyed.

Red Alert scowled outwardly at the screens, smirked inwardly as Wyntermist sat up straighter. "Wha-"

Red Alert leaned forward typing in a command. After a few moments the location of the camera destroyed popped up onto the screen. Red Alert bent to root out his repair kit before standing. Wyntermist looked at the screens, his kit, and back at the screens. "Watch for me."

"But- I'm not trained-"

Red Alert snorted. "You don't have to be trained, the Ark used to switch off on this all of the time and they were never trained. They still do. Simply warn me if you see anything that looks unusual."

Wyntermist watched Red Alert go before turning back to the screen. The flickering camera screens caught and held his attention. He had always been in very busy bases where he had never had the chance to be on duty for security.

He could see Red Alert marching through the corridors as the cameras cycled through their scan areas, and here and there he could see others strolling through the cameras. He was surprised by the quality of the images. Usually, whenever he saw such recordings of the cameras the images were grainy and horrible. These cameras were crystal clear.

He could even spot the humans that occasionally entered the buildings. Sunmoon could still be seen leaning in front of the wash racks, though he was looking less and less smug by the breem. He didn't like waiting.

A fast flittering shadow caught his optics in the next camera showing an 'empty' cafeteria. He leaned forward, and saw the dark shadow again, just before the camera cycled on. "Red Alert, in the cafeteria there was a dark shadow-"

"That would be Mirage." Red Alert supplied. "He doesn't like drinking his energon in front of others, so he'll wait in a corner invisible until everyone leaves. Now is about the time."

"Oh-" Wyntermist replied, feeling slightly stupid. Red Alert seemed to catch it.

"Good job on spotting him. Most mechs don't, even with the special cameras I have posted up."

That cheered Wyntermist up a little. He continued watching the cameras.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Wyntermist looked up from the screens as Red Alert stepped in. His spark froze however as the tall figure of Optimus Prime stepped in behind him. "Optimus- meet my new apprentice."

"What?" Wyntermist squawked. "You c-can't be s-serious-" He stuttered it out, optics switching from Red Alert to Prime and back again.

Red Alert ignored his reply, speaking directly to the bemused looking Prime. "He'll be perfect I believe. He has enough resourcefulness, is genuinely interested in watching the cameras and such…"

Prime cleared his vocalizer. "Well soldier?"

"I-I-I-" Wyntermist said helplessly.

"See, he agrees." Red Alert concluded ruthlessly. Wyntermist reflected that the security director probably had to be extraordinarily ruthless. Especially with the mechs he oversaw. "He'll be perfect." Red Alert purred sending a deep shiver down his back. This was not good.

A/n: Hah! I have done the legendary impossible (kinda) thing of giving Red Alert a student. Now, time for the fun part, whatever shall all of his lessons be? Got any ideas and I'll gladly take them. If not, review anyways, please!